Views on nuclear energy development showcased at Nuclear Power Asia

The seventh Nuclear Power Asia conference being held in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday and Wednesday is bringing together the leaders of the Asian nuclear-power industry.

Session participants have concurred that nuclear power, being an economically and environmentally viable source of electricity, has the capacity to contribute greatly to Asia’s sustainable future.

“Sustainable future is impossible without sustainable energy,” said Egor Simonov, director of Rosatom Asia. “Nuclear power [emits] 25-30 times less [greenhouse gas] than coal- or oil-fired power plants. Therefore, nuclear power may be a viable solution for Asean nations willing to fulfil their climate-change commitments.”

Rosatom is Russia’s nuclear regulator, and its Southeast Asian regional branch is in Singapore.

Simonov said that over the past 60 years, Rosatom’s VVER NPPs (water-water energetic reactor plants) had helped to avoid more than 15 billion tonnes of carbon-dioxide emissions, which almost amounts to the total volume of that gas emitted in China for two years, or of the rest of Asian countries for four years.

Jukka Laaksonen, adviser to the chief executive at Rusatom Energy International, and former director-general of STUK, the nuclear regulatory body of Finland, presented the key safety features of the VVER-1200 reactor.

He said the first VVER-1200 at Novovoronezh, central Russia, achieved full power last October. He added that the VVER-1200 was the latest Rosatom nuclear-reactor design and the world’s only Generation 3+ reactor in operation.

The main feature of Gen 3+ reactors is a balanced combination of active and passive safety systems. However, it is a time-tested technology benefiting from the decades of VVER evolution, including experiences from the construction of plants built in China (Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant) and India (Kudankulam NPP).

Pavel Bruk, deputy chief information officer at ASE Group, a subsidiary of Rosatom, shared insights into ASE Multi-D technology. This is a set of NPP project lifecycle management tools, which was developed by ASE in cooperation with the world’s leading software vendors. It is based on the vast experience of construction of VVER reactors.

ASE Multi-D provides a comprehensive information-technology solution for the design, construction and operations management of an NPP, as well as any other complex capital facility, including the control of budgets, supplies, time frames, and other resources.

The Nuclear Power Asia conference is a platform to discuss the latest challenges, trends and achievements in the Asian nuclear industry. The event is annually attended by more than 300 participants from nuclear-energy authorities, energy commissions, nuclear energy programme implementing organisations, international developers and operators, technology suppliers, and academic society.